Forbidden Broadway
| Forbidden Broadway | |
|---|---|
| Music | Various |
| Lyrics | Gerard Alessandrini |
| Book | Gerard Alessandrini |
| Basis | Broadway parodies |
| Productions | 1982 Off-Broadway |
Forbidden Broadway is an Off-Broadway revue parodying musical theatre, particularly Broadway musicals. It was conceived, written and directed by Gerard Alessandrini.
The original version of the revue opened on January 15, 1982, at Palsson's Supper Club in New York City and ran for 2,332 performances.[1] Alessandrini has rewritten the show more than a dozen times over the years to include parodies of newer shows. In the original iteration of the show, Alessandrini was one of the original actors. Michael Chapman directed and produced.[2] In 1982, Jeff Martin succeeded Chapman as director. Alessandrini assumed the directing position subsequently, with Phillip George, Alessandrini's long-time collaborator, co-directing or directing all of the editions of the revue since 2004.[3]
The show, in its various editions, has received over 9,000 performances and has been seen in more than 200 U.S. cities as well as playing in London, Tokyo, Singapore and Sydney.[4]
Description
The show is a cabaret revue sharply spoofing show tunes, characters and plots of contemporary and current Broadway musicals. Forbidden Broadway has mocked popular shows like The Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, Les Misérables, The Lion King, Spamalot, Annie, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, Rent, Newsies, to name a few. It also targets famous Broadway actors, writers, composers, directors, choreographers and producers, including Julie Andrews, Mel Brooks, Carol Channing, Kristin Chenoweth, Michael Crawford, Harvey Fierstein, Bob Fosse, Whoopi Goldberg, Robert Goulet, Jerry Herman, Dustin Hoffman, Elton John, Angela Lansbury, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Patti LuPone, Cameron Mackintosh, Mary Martin, Ethel Merman, Liza Minnelli, Rita Moreno, Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters, Chita Rivera, Stephen Sondheim, Barbra Streisand, Julie Taymor and Gwen Verdon.[2][5][6]
Forbidden Broadway is a four-person show, with two men, two women and piano accompaniment. Forbidden Broadway has released more than a dozen albums, as well as one entitled Forbidden Hollywood, a cast album of the show of the same title by Alessandrini. Like Forbidden Broadway, Forbidden Hollywood is made up of parodies, except that it targets movies rather than musicals. The New York and Los Angeles-based companies of both Forbidden incarnations have served as a workshop for rising talent to hone their skills. Alumni include Jason Alexander,[7] Brad Oscar,[8] Christine Pedi,[9] Bryan Batt,[10] Michael McGrath,[11] Chloe Webb,[7] Barbara Walsh,[12] Ann Morrison,[7] and many more.
In 2006, the show and Alessandrini were awarded Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre.[13]
It has been nominated five times for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revue, winning three times (2001, 2005 and 2008).[14][15][16] It also won Drama Desk Special Awards in 1985[17] and 2009.[18] Forbidden Broadway Goes to Rehab ended its run Off-Broadway on March 1, 2009.[5] In 2009 a book of "Best of" lyrics and the show's history was published under the title Forbidden Broadway: Behind The Mylar Curtain.[19]
The show, in its various editions through 2009, received over 9,000 performances and been seen in more than 200 U.S. cities as well as in London, Tokyo, Singapore[4] and Adelaide, Australia, where it played for the only time with an orchestra at the 2002 Adelaide Cabaret Festival.[20] A 2009 review of the London production, in Britain's The Independent, commented: "Actors have always poked fun at the foibles of commercial theatre. ... Usually, though, they keep their parodies to themselves. It takes a touch of genius to turn them into something saleable, but writer Gerald Alessandrini has that Midas touch."[6] The original artwork advertising the show was designed by caricaturist Ken Fallin, who suggested the actors find the name "Nina" written on their bodies as an homage to Al Hirschfeld, who was known for working his daughter's name into his drawings.[21]
A 2012/13 version of the show, Forbidden Broadway: Alive and Kicking!, played in New York[22] and was revived in 2014.[23] Another Off-Broadway version, Forbidden Broadway Comes Out Swinging, played in 2014.[3] Further productions include an extended London season in 2014 beginning at the Menier Chocolate Factory[24] and transferring to the Vaudeville Theatre, starring Christina Bianco, Anna-Jane Casey, Damian Humbley and Ben Lewis, with Phillip George directing.[25]
Editions of Forbidden Broadway
- Forbidden Broadway (May 4, 1982 – August 30, 1987)
- Forbidden Broadway 1988/1989 (September 15, 1988 – December 24, 1989)
- Forbidden Broadway 1990 (January 23, 1990 – June 9, 1991)
- Forbidden Broadway 1991½ (June 20, 1991 – January 12, 1992)
- Forbidden Broadway 1992 (April 6, 1992 – November 30, 1992)
- Forbidden Broadway Featuring Forbidden Christmas (December 1, 1992 – December 27, 1992)
- Forbidden Broadway 1993 (January 12, 1993 – September 19, 1993)
- Forbidden Broadway 1994 (November 11, 1993 – January 2, 1994)
- Forbidden Broadway Strikes Back (October 17, 1996 – September 20, 1998) (won Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics; nominated as Outstanding Revue)
- Forbidden Broadway Cleans Up Its Act (November 17, 1998 – August 30, 2000) (nominated for Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revue)
- Forbidden Broadway 2001: A Spoof Odyssey (December 6, 2000 – 2001) (won Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revue)
- Forbidden Broadway 20th Anniversary Celebration (May 10, 2001 – 2004)
- Forbidden Broadway Summer Shock! (July 5, 2004 – September 15, 2004)
- Forbidden Broadway: Special Victims Unit (December 16, 2004 – April 15, 2007) (won Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revue)
- Forbidden Broadway: The Roast of Utopia (June 13, 2007 – August 22, 2007)
- Forbidden Broadway: Rude Awakening (October 2, 2007 – March 24, 2008) (won Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revue)
- Forbidden Broadway Dances With the Stars! (June 28, 2008 – September 2008)
- Forbidden Broadway Goes to Rehab (September 17, 2008 – March 1, 2009)
- Forbidden Broadway: Alive and Kicking! (July 24, 2012 – April 28, 2013)
- Forbidden Broadway Comes Out Swinging (February 22, 2014 – July 20, 2014)[26]
- Forbidden Broadway: West End (September 9, 2014 – November 22, 2014)[27]
Albums
- Forbidden Broadway, Vol. 1 – 1984
- Forbidden Broadway, Vol. 2 – 1991
- Forbidden Broadway, Vol. 3 – 1994
- Forbidden Hollywood – 1995
- Forbidden Broadway Strikes Back – 1996
- Forbidden Broadway Cleans Up Its Act – 1999
- Forbidden Broadway: 20th Anniversary Edition – 2000
- Forbidden Broadway 2001: A Spoof Odyssey – 2001
- Forbidden Broadway: Special Victims Unit – 2005
- Forbidden Broadway: Rude Awakening – 2008
- Forbidden Broadway Goes to Rehab – 2009
- Forbidden Broadway: Alive & Kicking! – 2012
- Forbidden Broadway Comes Out Swinging! – 2014
References
- ↑ List of long runs in London and the world
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Wilson, John S. "Upper West Side Is Home to Offbeat Music; Forbidden Broadway Spoofs Musical Theater", The New York Times, March 12, 1982, p. 1
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Brantley, Ben. "Knee-Jerk Revivals and Other Punch Lines", The New York Times, May 6, 2014
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Forbidden Broadway", Emelin Theatre, accessed August 30, 2015
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Gans, Andrew. "'Forbidden Broadway Goes to Rehab 'Extends to March 2009", Playbill, December 9, 2008
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Gilbert, Jenny. "Forbidden Broadway, Menier Chocolate Factory, London". The Independent, July 5, 2009, accessed November 9, 2010
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Forbidden Broadway lortel.org, accessed August 30, 2015
- ↑ Forbidden Broadway 1993 lortel.org, accessed August 30, 2015
- ↑ Forbidden Broadway at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
- ↑ "Forbidden BroadwayCleans Up Its Act 1998" lortel.org, accessed August 30, 2015
- ↑ Forbidden Broadway 1988/1989 lortel.org, accessed August 30, 2015
- ↑ Rosati, Nancy."An Interview with Barbara Walsh" talkinbroadway.com, November 20, 2002
- ↑ Gans, Andrew. "The Tony Awards Administration Committee announced the recipients of the 2006 Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre Sept. 22" Playbill, October 24, 2006
- ↑ Forbidden Broadway 2001: A Spoof Odyssey, Internet Off-Broadway Database, accessed August 29, 2015
- ↑ Forbidden Broadway: Special Victims Unit, 2004, Internet Off-Broadway Database, accessed August 29, 2015
- ↑ Forbidden Broadway: Rude Awakening, Internet Off-Broadway Database, accessed August 29, 2015
- ↑ "Drama Desk Awards, see 1985", Drama Desk, accessed August 29, 2015
- ↑ Gans, Andrew. "'Ruined' and 'Billy Elliot' Win Top Honors at Drama Desk Awards", Playbill, 2009
- ↑ Boslaugh, Sarah. "Book Reviews. Forbidden Broadway: Behind the Mylar Curtain", talkinbroadway.com, November 12, 2009
- ↑ Adelaide Art Orchestra
- ↑ "Caricaturist Captures the Corporate Market", Biz Bash Orlando, August 11, 2008.
- ↑ Gans, Andrew. "Cast Recording of Off-Broadway's Forbidden Broadway: Alive and Kicking Arrives Nov. 27", Playbill, November 27, 2012, accessed October 9, 2014
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Shenton, Mark. "Forbidden Broadway Extends Run at London's Menier Chocolate Factory", Playbill, July 23, 2014
- ↑ Cavendish, Dominic. "Forbidden Broadway, Vaudeville Theatre, review: 'witty musical parodies'", The Telegraph, October 8, 2014
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
